


A New Venture

by JadeDragonhawk



Category: Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:22:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25931287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeDragonhawk/pseuds/JadeDragonhawk
Summary: A look at Elend's journey from naive idealist, through falling in love, to finding himself in the middle of complete rebellion and becoming a king.“You’re not going to let me get back to my book, are you?” Elend asked, with a tug of reluctant amusement.“I wasn’t intending to.”“Well, then. do you want to go dance instead?”She paused, the expression frozen on her face. Elend grinned, knowing he’d caught her out. But also feeling just the slightest bit disappointed.
Relationships: Elend Venture/Vin
Comments: 18
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I absolutely loved the chemistry between Vin and Elend in Mistborn, and I was very disappointed that we only saw a few of their interactions during the first book. I wanted to fill in a few of the gaps in their developing relationship, and show a little bit more of Elend's life, with such a horrible father and trying to establish a circle of "revolutionaries".
> 
> I wasn't sure if I should tag this for rape/violence warning, because there will be mentions of it mostly concerning Straff Venture, but it doesn't relate to the main pairing in any way. I guess it's pretty standard for the Mistborn world, though.

The inside of House Venture gleamed with light. Torches flickered, lanterns shone and globes of white light sparkled their reflections from polished floorboards and glittered on the marble walls. Servants dressed in immaculate red jackets floated regally in and out of the rooms, carrying candles, dishes and the occasional letter of business. Unheeded by all of them, a young girl’s terrified screams echoed through the hallways.

Elend Venture, who had been reading quietly at his desk while eating his dinner, paused with a fork half way to his mouth, and then laid it back down on the plate. He stared down at it for a moment. The food had been good, but the sickening feeling in his stomach was now making it completely unappetizing. 

He pushed the plate away. The screams outside his door were briefly accompanied by raised voices, and then there was a loud  _ crack _ . The screams stopped abruptly. Elend got out of his chair and went to open the door. He stepped out onto the landing and looked across to the other side, just in time to see the door to his father’s rooms slam shut. Two guards stood outside, leaning close, as if they were trying to hear what was happening on the other side. But when they noticed Elend was watching, they slunk away quickly. 

The house was quiet again. More quiet than before, even - no servant wanted to break that brittle silence with a footstep or by scraping a bowl. Not when they knew what was happening behind that door. 

Elend gripped the balcony railing with both hands, drawing in a deep breath. At this point the only thing he could hope for was that the girl never regained consciousness - even if her last waking moments were screams of terror, it was better than the alternative. He would have to go down to the servants’ quarters later and find out if anyone knew her name. A fruitless endeavor when all was said and done, but one he made a habit of ever since the girl whose death he had caused when he was 13 years old. She had died nameless. He was determined it should not happen again.

There was no point in waiting on the balcony. His father would not emerge for a long time, and Elend did not want to see him when he did. So he went back into his room and locked the door behind him. He picked up the book he had been reading before and carried it over to his bed, settling himself on the cushions and quickly losing himself inside its pages again.

_ Trials of Monument  _ had an interesting concept, Elend thought, but it was a little  _ too  _ removed from reality for the premise to ever really be considered. The likelihood of a skaa rebellion was so remote that Dilisteni might as well have been dealing with complete fiction. Mostly likely this was not a volume he could recommend to Telden. Even Jastes might struggle with this one.

There was a knock at the door. Elend got up from his desk, still carrying the book, and found a servant standing outside. 

“Will my lord take lunch?”

_ It’s lunch time already? _ “Thank you, yes. Bring it to my chambers, will you?”

“Forgive me, my lord.” The servant bowed low. “But my lord Lekal is come to pay you a visit. He awaits you in the blue drawing room.”

“Jastes is here? Then bring lunch for both of us in the drawing room.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Elend paused only to toss  _ Trials of Monument  _ back onto his desk before striding out of the room and down the stairs. The blue drawing room was smaller than the ones Lord Venture preferred to meet his guests in; it was usually reserved for lowly merchants and unwanted visitors. Elend liked it because he was very unlikely to be disturbed.

“Up and about early today, Jastes,” he exclaimed as he entered.

The young Lord Lekal, who was lounging on a silver-lined couch, rolled his eyes. “Not all of us stay up past midnight, glued to our books every night, El.”

“You prefer to stay up dancing with the ladies?”

“It would do you good to spend some time with the ladies,” Jastes retorted. “At the very least it would get your father off your back.”

“Now, see, I have no interest in doing anything that would please my father.” Elend sunk into a high-backed armchair and stretched out his legs. 

“What about the Elarial girl then? The engagement is definitely over?”

“Nothing official was announced. But I am certain my father is not considering it anymore.”

“Good.” Jastes grimaced. “I don’t like her. She looks the part, alright, but she’s - what’s the word - ”

“Cruel,” Elend finished for him. “She’s cruel. And not very intelligent.”

“The worst sin of all.” Jastes grinned. “I can’t wait to see you fall for a pretty girl. You won’t be complaining about her lack of intelligence  _ then _ .”

A knock on the door signalled the arrival of a servant carrying a lunch tray. She placed it on the side table between the two young men. Elend, who had just realized he hadn’t eaten yet, snagged his favourite mince pastry.

“I suppose you speak from experience! But enough talk about women, Jastes. How far have you got with the Rudan? Did you reach the part about the outer dominances yet?”

“I did, but really Elend? Paying a wage to the skaa? What would they even do with it?”

“The same thing soldiers do, I suppose,” Elend replied, grabbing another pastry. “Spend it on food, clothing, maybe books…”

“But they’re provided food and clothes already,” his friend argued. “And they probably can’t read, so what good would books do them?”

“Then we should teach them to read! Everyone should be able to read.”

Jastes laughed. “Even noblemen don’t want books Elend, and we have  _ time _ to read. What are skaa going to read about? The latest trends in ploughing fields?”

“Perhaps our books wouldn’t interest them very much,” Elend conceded. “But the basic principle still stands, nonetheless.”

  
  


That evening, a servant came to inform Elend that his father had requested his presence at dinner. He had been hoping to take his meal in his room again, and avoid his father completely. After the last night, Elend was tempted to ignore the summons (because that was what it was), and retreat upstairs. But common sense won out: Lord Venture would only brook so much defiance, and it would do no good to anger him now when something more important might come up later.

The dining table was too big for only two people. It was ridiculous really, Elend thought. If they sat at opposite ends they would not be able to hear each other speak. In fact, Elend would have forgiven the entire ostentatious affair if he had actually been able to sit at the foot of the table and eat in chilly silence, but his father would not allow it. Instead, he sat at his father’s right hand, forcing himself to chew and swallow food he could not even taste.

Straff Venture occupied the head of the table. As he ate, he spoke calmly and deliberately about house politics, a weapons deal with a country lord, and the latest news from the imperators’ office. He only occasionally required a response. 

“I was approached by Lord Urbain yesterday,” he continued to speak to the table at large. “His eldest daughter is all grown up. I hear she has a sizable inheritance, and a decent figure as well. It’s a shame about that fright of a nose, but I suppose it can’t be helped. She’ll still bear children, after all.”

Elend had gone down to the servants quarters earlier in the day. That girl’s name had been Sara. Her mother had worked in the kitchens, but she had tried to stop the guards from taking her daughter away. He hoped at least they were buried in the same grave.

“Lord Urbain has begun to look for potential husbands. And even though your reputation does you no favours, an alliance with House Venture cannot be lightly dismissed.”

“And here I thought Lord Urbain was already married,” Elend replied, trying to keep his voice steady even as his hand clenched around the fork he was holding.

Lord Venture sipped his wine. “You will accompany the girl to the next ball,” he said, as if Elend had not spoken. “I have arranged for your carriage to collect the girl on your way to House Tekiel tomorrow night.”

“I was not planning to attend the ball tomorrow,” Elend began with gritted teeth. “Perhaps Lady Urbain would be so kind as to…”

“You will attend the ball tomorrow night,” His father said sternly. “And you will behave like a gentleman. I will be very displeased to hear more accounts of your immature behaviour.”

Elend continued eating in furious silence. Straff could order him to attend the ball, but Elend had discovered years ago that once in public he could act as he pleased, and his father would be unable to intervene without breaking his own cool, detached facade. 

Straff seemed to realize this as well, and started into the lecture that Elend had heard ever since he had been a child, and even the harshest beating had been unable to wrest any kind of allomantic gift from him.

“It is well past time that you thought of something other than yourself, boy. Every day I wish the Lord Ruler had granted you some kind of sense, any kind of talent that would be useful to me. If I could choose my heir, it would never have been you. But here we are. Do  _ try _ to not be  _ completely _ worthless, won’t you?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elend attends his own ball and meets the Lady Valette Renoux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's such a challenge to keep the characterization consistent. To make Elend naive and a little selfish (like all nobles) while still being more open-minded and idealistic. And he must have noticed Vin much earlier in the evening - he knew her name and what she'd been doing, even though I think he normally wouldn't care about a new comer outside his social circle. I also don't think he had an ulterior motive during their first meeting, he only realized later that it would annoy his father.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Elend smoothed open the pages of his book and tried to find the last place he had been reading. The words swam in front of his face, strangely incomprehensible. His father’s words echoed persistently in his ears.

_ Am I wasting my time then, after all? These men, who wrote of revolution and reform, they risked their lives to pass this knowledge down to future generations, trusting that someone would be able to put their ideas to use. I suppose I am not exactly the person they had imagined. _

He glared down at the book, looking for an answer somewhere in the scrawled ink, but for once Dilisteni failed him. Frustrated, he slammed the pages closed and leaned forward against the iron railing, tucking the book back into his pocket. Scrubbing one hand over his eyes, he gazed down upon the great Venture banquet hall. Below moved hundreds of brightly coloured men and women, interspersed with the distinctive, red and white clad servants. The chatter of conversation was only a faded buzz, but he knew from long experience that were he to rejoin the lower floors, it would become much louder. It was still early, so the dance floor was empty, but many small groups had already formed. The servants were still greeting late comers at the door.

Elend watched them absently. Painted men and women, with not a thought to spare for anything outside of their hair and their clothes and the latest scandal.  _ And my father would have me be one of them.  _

The balcony where he stood commanded a wide view of the entire floor, while its location - up high and overshadowed by the magnificent glass panelling in the ceiling - meant that most people did not notice it. Exactly for these reasons, it was Elend’s favourite haunt. He was currently using it to avoid his father’s latest schemes.

Lady Urbain sat at the large Venture table. This was the second event he had been forced to attend with her - after the first he had hoped she might refuse to see him ever again, but it appeared that the temptation of fortune and the reputation of the noble house of Venture proved stronger than Elend’s personality. For his part, he had not expected to like her at all, but even so he had quickly decided she was the most boring person in existence. He doubted she had ever touched a book in her life. 

A familiar face caught his eye - Shan Elariel, his one-time fiancée, surrounded by her gaggle of faithful followers, held court around her own table. He wondered if she had a target tonight. Shan’s political aspirations held no appeal for Elend, and her particular brand of cruelty disgusted him. Even Lady Urbain’s bland insipidity was preferable. He had been extremely thankful when her house had fallen out of favour, and his father had lost interest in a match between them.

Bored, Elend almost picked up his book again, but a late comer by the doorway caught his attention. The young woman who had just entered was clearly out of her depth, gazing around with the kind of wide-eyed awe that said this was her first time in the Venture ballroom - first time perhaps in any ballroom. 

_ A country girl, _ Elend thought, and felt a flash of pity. She looked very young. Her hair was cut unfashionably short and her dress was a simple, ruffled light blue. Her servant, a Terrisman, followed after her just a little too closely, hovering behind her like a moth. The crowd swallowed them up as the girl moved further into the room, and he lost sight of her.

“El!” 

Jastes’ quick step sounded on the stairs behind him, and Elend turned away from the balcony. 

“Come and eat with us, man. You can read later.”

“I think my father expects me to eat with the Lady Urbain,” he replied wryly. 

“He’s not going to be happier if you stay up here all night, rather than eating at my table.” Jastes pointed out. “So there’s really no point in starving yourself. Come on.”

Elend laughed and followed him down from the balcony to the table where a group of their friends had gathered. 

“I found him!” Jastes collapsed into an empty chair.

“Thank the Lord Ruler,” someone replied. “Can we finally get some food?”

“You’re a miracle worker, Lekal!” Telden exclaimed. “I thought you’d never be able to tear him away from his books.”

“What care I for mere physical sustenance,” Elend replied dramatically, seating himself beside Jastes, “when nourishment for the soul is all I require.”

“I’d love to see you eat those pages,” Jastes retorted to general laughter, “But the rest of us want actual food.”

The servants began to bring over plates and lay them on the table. The smells of meat, bread and delicacies intermingled and wafted through the air, and for a few minutes all conversation ceased. 

Elend picked up his fork and started eating. He glanced along the single tables, at the young women sitting there, and to his surprise he recognized one of them. She looked a lot more confident now, eating her meal with the delicacy expected of a proper court lady.  _ The short hair suits her _ .

“Who’s she?”

“Who?” Telden looked in the direction he indicated. “Oh her? A country house, I think. Renoux?”

“Yes. Valette Renoux.” Jastes agreed. “Her uncle’s a weapons dealer. He moved to Fellise recently - he’s spoken to my father about some kind of deal.”

“Did Lord Renoux not grace us with his presence?” 

“He sends his niece in his place.”

Telden laughed. “Do you like her, Elend? She’s pretty enough, I suppose, but how uncultured! I guarantee you’d grow bored of her within the hour.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know her,” Elend replied with dignity. “And I don’t imagine that I shall. Did Jastes show you the new book I gave him, Telden?”   


A chorus of groans met his attempt to change the topic of conversation. 

“No, no, I won’t discuss philosophy while we’re eating,” Telden complained. “Later, man, for the Lord Ruler’s sake. Have some more wine, won’t you?”

After the meal was over, Elend quickly became bored with the conversation. Telden had abandoned them for the dance floor, Jastes had been recalled to his own party by his mother, and the others refused to turn the discussion to more serious subjects, so Elend retreated back to the balcony again to read. 

Even though most of his concentration was on his book, from time to time he would glance down at the ballroom and find himself watching the country girl - Lady Valette Renoux - where she sat by herself, hands folded primly in her lap. 

He counted three young men who went over to ask her to dance, but to his surprise she refused them all.  _ Very shy, then _ . 

In the center of the ballroom, Shan Elariel was dancing with Tanden. Elend stopped watching after that.

As the evening wore on, he became more and more engrossed in his book. The pages slipped by quickly, until he went to take a sip from his wine glass and found it empty.  _ The only problem with the balcony, _ he thought ruefully,  _ is the servants don’t come by here. _

He went back down the stairs. At the bottom he paused and glanced around, looking for the nearest servant. He beckoned over a young skaa who immediately scurried away to fetch a wine decanter. Elend found a convenient pillar to prop himself against while he waited for her return. He took out his book for a moment, but the light really was so bad that he closed it again straight away. 

“Why, my lord Venture!” A young, female voice cried breathily beside him. Elend turned reluctantly. Her face was familiar - he had spoken to her before, but she was not one of the girls his father had arranged to accompany him to various balls. Small mercies. “It has been such an age since we last spoke. I declare, I quite thought you had forgotten me.”

_ If every courtier put their mind to literacy instead of political manipulation _ , Elend thought as he caught sight of the servant returning with relief, _ the world would be a much better place. _

He eyed the girl with muted distaste. She had made it almost impossible for him to leave without being rude. The gentlemanly thing to do in this situation was ask her to dance. 

Elend had long practice in not being a gentleman. He accepted the wine cup from the servant with a word of gratitude, and offered his best, bland smile to the lady. 

“Well, I am afraid you are perfectly right, my lady. Your memory quite exceeds my own. I must apologise. Please do excuse me.” 

His foot was on the bottom stair before she could gather her wits enough to respond. 

But when he returned to the balcony, he was disturbed to find that someone else had beaten him there. The silhouette of a young woman was framed against the iron railing as she stood staring up at the painted glass windows. Elend looked at her in resignation, wondering if she had come up there deliberately and how rude he would have to be to make her go away again.

“Now, see, here’s the problem with going to refill your cup of wine.”

The girl jumped and spun around; he had startled her then. Perhaps she hadn’t been waiting for him after all. And then he recognized her short hair, and the light blue dress. Had she noticed him watching her?

“The problem is, you return to find that your favourite spot has been stolen by a pretty girl. Now, a gentleman would move on to another place, leaving the lady to her contemplations. However, this  _ is  _ the best spot on the balcony - it’s the only place close enough to a lantern to have good reading light.”

She blushed and dropped her eyes, and he felt bad for suspecting her motives. She was smaller in person than he had expected. “I’m sorry, my lord.”

“Ah, see, now I feel guilty. All for a cup of wine. Look, there’s plenty of room for two people here - just scoot over a bit.”

She hesitated, and for a moment he thought she would flee back down to the ballroom. But then she moved to the side enough for him to step under the lantern light. He nodded his thanks and pulled the book out of his pocket, quickly finding his place again. It was a particularly engrossing chapter, concerning the correlation of intelligence to working conditions in the skaa population, and he was just getting to the conclusion when the girl’s curious voice pulled him out of it.

“Do you always read at balls?”

He glanced up, surprised that she had enough courage to speak to him. “Whenever I can get away with it.”

“Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of coming? Why attend if you’re just going to avoid socializing?”

“You’re up here too.” From what he’d seen, she hadn’t done much socializing either.

“I just wanted to get a good view of the hall.”

“Oh? And why did you refuse all three men who asked you to dance?”  _ Damn _ . If she hadn’t noticed him watching her, there was no need to give away that information.

She scowled. He smiled as innocently as he could, hoping she wouldn’t notice the slip.

“There were four. And I refused them because I don’t know how to dance very well,” she replied with a huff.

_ Honesty. How refreshing. _ Unconsciously, he lowered the book he was still holding. “You know, you’re a lot less timid than you look.”

“Timid? I’m not the one staring at his book when there’s a young lady standing by him, never having properly introduced himself.” 

Elend almost laughed.  _ Does she really not know who I am?  _

“Now, see, you sound like my father. Far better looking, but just as grumpy.”

She glared at him again. It was a new experience for Elend; young women did not generally try to attract his attention by glaring at him, especially on first introduction. Or before first introduction, in this case. She held his gaze imperiously, silently demanding a response, and eventually he rolled his eyes and gave in. 

“Very well. Let me be a gentleman, then.” He offered her his best courtly bow. “I am Lord Elend. Lady Valette Renoux, might I have the pleasure of sharing this balcony with you whilst I read?”

Satisfied, Lady Renoux crossed her arms and retreated to what Elend recognized from long experience as studied contemplation. Hoping she had had enough of his awkward manners, he raised his book again. But before he could even find his place, she interrupted him.

“You still haven’t told me why you would rather read than participate.”

Usually at this point he would have resorted to outright rudeness to drive away anyone so unwilling to take a hint. But he felt a strange reluctance to end the conversation.

“Well, see, I’m not exactly the best dancer either.”

“Ah.” 

The look on her face filled him with a sudden desire to defend himself, and Elend raised a finger to cut her off. “But that’s only part of it. You may not realize this yet, but it’s not that hard to get over-partied. Once you attend five or six hundred of these balls, they start to feel a bit repetitive.”

Valette did not look impressed. “You’d probably learn to dance better if you practiced.”

“You’re not going to let me get back to my book, are you?” Elend asked, with a tug of reluctant amusement.

“I wasn’t intending to.”

“Well, then. Do you want to go dance instead?”

She paused, the expression frozen on her face. Elend grinned, knowing he’d caught her out.

“That’s a no, I presume? Good - I thought I should offer, since we’ve established that I’m a gentleman. However, I doubt the couples below would appreciate us trampling their toes.”

“Agreed. What were you reading?”

“Dilisteni. Trials of Monument. Heard of it?”

Elend looked at her keenly, wondering if she would recognize either name, but she shook her head. _ What was I expecting? Not five people in this room would know the name. _

“Ah well. Not many have. So, what do you think of your first experience at court?” He leaned over the railing to clear his thoughts, falling back onto socially accepted conversation.

Valette didn’t seem to notice. “It’s very… overwhelming.”

He laughed, trying not to let too much bitterness colour the sound. “Say what you will about House Venture - they know how to throw a party.”

Evidently he wasn’t successful. “You don’t like House Venture, then?”

“Not particularly, no.” A sudden wave of anger swelled up in him, spilling over into words. “They’re an ostentatious lot, even for high nobility. They can’t just have a party, they have to throw the  _ best _ party. Nevermind that they run their servants ragged setting it up, then beat the poor things in retribution when the hall isn’t perfectly clean the very next morning.”

She stared at him, her head tilted in surprise and her eyes shadowed by something that he couldn’t read, and Elend flushed as he realized he’d just exposed the inner workings of his own house to a complete stranger. He could already hear his father’s scolding. 

“But, well, nevermind that.” He scanned the floor below them for an excuse to end the conversation, and latched on to the first one he saw. “I think your Terrisman is looking for you.”

Luckily for him, it worked. Better than it should have - any Luthadel noble would have commanded their servant to climb to the balcony and attend them. Valette reacted as if she were a child caught out past her bedtime.

“I’ve got to go,” she said, hurrying towards the stairs.

Elend waved half-heartedly after her. “Ah, well then. Back to reading it is.”

Relieved to be left alone with his thoughts, Elend buried himself back into the pages of  _ Monument  _ without seeing a word. No matter how outrageous his behavior, he had never been quite so careless before. Nevermind that the information he’d given her was completely useless - who cared how House Venture treated their skaa - but the precedent was unbelievable.  _ It will be all over the city by tomorrow, _ he thought grimly.  _ What a perfect bit of gossip for a new, young socialite to spread.  _

But still, his eyes were drawn up from his book and down to the ballroom below, where a small figure in a blue dress was following the tall figure of her Terrisman servant. He thought she looked back at him, but she was soon lost in the crowd as the early leavers flooded out the main door. 

Hours later, when all the great houses had finally left, Elend finally judged it safe to retire to his own rooms. If he was fast enough, he would be able to avoid his father completely. Right now he was not in the mood for the imminent scolding.

In the corridor outside the ballroom, one of the skaa servants stopped him. “My lord, the candles are burnt low. Should they be replaced?”

“How should I know?” He asked impatiently, eager to get away before Straff finished saying whatever final farewells he had.

“But, my lord...”

“Ask my father,” he snapped, striding quickly toward the stairs, but it was too late. The door opened behind him and Lord Venture’s stern voice called out.

“Elend! A moment, if you please.”

Elend scowled, but there was no escape now. He turned back toward the ballroom door. His father ushered him into the study across the hall and closed the door behind them.

“I told you to attend on Lady Urbain this evening.” Straff’s face was forbidding. “Once again, you deliberately disobeyed me. Lord Urbain has asked if I am reconsidering our arrangement.”

“Don’t worry, father,” Elend answered with as much false calm as he could. “I’m sure there will be some new scandal within the week, and this whole affair will be forgotten.”

He had spoken mostly in jest, but the look his father gave him was more considering than angry.

“As it happens, I discovered some concerning information about the state of House Urbain’s finances recently.” 

_ I suppose keeping a kandra has its benefits. _ “So can I assume that I won’t be seeing Lady Urbain again?”

“Hmmm. I do wish you would get over this childish nonsense, boy. What kind of heir is so pathetic he can’t even ask a woman to dance?”

Elend felt a sudden flash of anger, and for once he had the perfect retort to his father’s words.

“Ah, but you see, I did ask a woman to dance tonight.”

“Is that so?” Lord Venture had already turned away, his attention focussed on the documents lying on his desk.

“She refused.”

His father looked up sharply. “What? Which woman was this?”. 

“Why, the Lady Valette Renoux, of course.” Elend could barely conceal his grin; his father’s face was darkening rapidly with fury. 

“You asked some nameless girl from an unknown country house to dance with you?” Lord Venture thundered. “Are you insane, boy? Does this house, your family, mean nothing to you?”

“She’s hardly nameless,” Elend objected. “I just told you her name, it’s…”

“You will not see this girl again,” his father interrupted as if he had not been speaking. “I can only be thankful that she had the sense to refuse your foolish advances…”   


Elend spluttered. “Advances.!”

“It’s a bit late to defend your actions now, boy. You will reflect on whether your behavior is really befitting the heir of a great house of Luthadel before I speak to you next. Now, get out of my sight.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life in Luthadel is boring - if you're a noble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a really hard chapter. I had to invent pretty much all of it - hopefully it is not too far outside the realm of possibility.

Elend sunk into the space beside Telden, setting his fresh wine glass down on the ebony table and leaning his head back against the fine satin cushioning of House Elariel’s high-backed chairs. Telden barely even glanced up at him, too occupied in vying for the smiles of the pretty blond on his right. On Elend’s other side, Jastes grinned at him and raised his own glass in a mocking salute as Elend turned to him gratefully. 

“Made it back alive, did you?”

“I swear, Jastes, these balls get more insufferable every time,” Elend groaned. He tugged irritably at the sleeve of his jacket - it was annoyingly restrictive. A belated and entirely unsuccessful attempt on Lord Venture’s part to force his recalcitrant son into looking more fashionable. Elend had not been able to argue his way out of wearing it.

Jastes smiled sympathetically. “You know, I hear these evenings become much more pleasant when you involve the fairer sex. How about dancing for a change?”

“You really expect me to subject some poor woman to my mockery of dancing? I doubt that would improve the evening for either of us.”

“Talking then.” Jastes rolled his eyes. “Flirt with a pretty girl.”

Elend huffed. “I’ve never met a noblewoman in all of Luthadel who could hold a sensible conversation.”

“I said  _ flirt _ , Elend, not…” Jastes trailed off as Elend gave him a pointed look. “Fine. Well, what about that Renoux girl? You seemed quite taken with her.”

“She’s not here,” Elend replied automatically, trying to ignore that same jolt of disappointment which had stung him when he hadn’t seen her at the tables.  _ Most likely she has other plans. Lesser nobles don’t have to attend all the functions, after all. _

“Oh?” Jastes asked, a mischievous grin spreading across his face, and Elend rolled his eyes.

“Just because I know she isn’t here, doesn’t mean anything.”

“It means you looked for her.”

“I didn’t  _ look _ for her. I just happened to notice that she isn’t here.” Elend retorted in as dignified manner as he could manage. Unfortunately, their conversation had caught Telden’s attention.

“Do mine ears deceive me?” The older man exclaimed. “Our Elend here is actually looking for a  _ girl _ ?”

“I am  _ not… _ ” Elend tried futilely, but his friends ignored him. 

“I fear it’s true,” Jastes spoke over him, “He was heartbroken to discover she wasn’t here tonight.”

“But how did this happen?” Telden asked delightedly. “When did he meet this paragon?”

“The last Venture ball,” Jastes replied as Elend sunk his head into his hands. “She followed him up to the upper balcony and somehow managed to drag him out of his book.”

“She didn’t  _ follow _ me…” Elend protested.

“Got him out of a book, did she?” Telden raised an eyebrow, impressed. “That’s more than I’ve been able to do on occasion. I must meet this girl. What’s her name?”

“You will  _ not _ .” Elend snapped, suddenly assailed by a horrible vision of Telden dancing with Valette Renoux.

Fortunately, Jastes is a better friend than Elend gave him credit for. “Sorry Telden, you’ll have to wait for Elend to introduce you. If he ever does.”

“Not on your life,” he muttered, sinking deeper into the chair and taking a long sip of wine. Beside him Telden laughed and protested, but to his relief the conversation swiftly moved on.

Out on the ballroom floor, beautifully dressed couples twirled and spun together, a glittering pattern that moved in harmony within itself. Elend watched them idly as his friends talked beside him, occasionally drawn back into the conversation but finding himself unwilling to give it his full attention.

They were discussing the importance of elocution in education when Jastes paused and then cleared his throat deliberately. 

“I hate to alarm anyone, but I fear we are about to be accosted.”

“What?”

They looked up and Elend felt his heart sink when he noticed Shan Elariel sweeping towards them. Society demanded he rise to his feet; the only form of protest he could give was waiting until the very last second that it was acceptable to do so. On either side of him, Jastes and Telden rose with more grace, but promptly abandoned him. 

“My lord Venture,” Shan greeted him, her smile sharp as she dipped a curtsy. “So kind of you to grace our poor halls tonight.”

“My lady.” All of Luthadel knew that Elend did not study the courtly arts, therefore it was not really an insult that his bow wasn’t quite the correct depth.

Shan noticed it anyway. “I fear our entertainment tonight must have been lacking. Why, I haven’t seen you on the dance floor at all.”

“My lady knows I am no dancer.”

“Of course.” Her smile turned vicious. “One would think that your father, Lord Venture, would have taken care to have his only child instructed in the social arts. But I daresay you meet his expectations.”

Elend clenched his fists against a sudden flash of anger. Shan had always had a talent for finding other people’s weak spots. He executed another short bow. “My lady will excuse me.”

“Of course.” Shan curtsied, a satisfied look on her face. “I wouldn’t want to keep you from - well, whatever it was you were doing.”

The next morning, Elend did not want to get out of bed. He laid under the covers in petulant refusal to acknowledge that he was awake, while the skaa servants came in with eyes averted to clean the fireplace and leave fresh water.

The sun rose higher and shone more insistently through the window, whose curtains the servants had thoughtfully pulled back. Elend scowled and buried his head under the pillow.

Eventually he remembered that he had agreed to meet Jastes for lunch. Groaning, he dragged himself upright and splashed water on his face until he felt more awake. He pulled the first outfit he found out of the closet and struggled into it, not bothering to tie a neckcloth or even check the mirror. 

Outside of his room, he startled a servant girl who had been about to knock at his door. 

“My lord!” She half bowed, half curtsied. “Can I be of any assistance?”

“No, thank you,” Elend replied casually, walking straight past and leaving her blinking after him.

He strode down the main staircase and into the hall, heading for the grand entrance and hoping that his father had already gone out for the day. 

“Elend!” 

Lord Venture’s voice issued peremptorily from the open study. Elend cursed his bad luck and dragged his feet back to the doorway, looking in where Straff was seated at his desk, surrounded by a pile of documents.

“Yes, Father?”

Straff looked him over critically. “What are you wearing, boy? You look like a scruffy plantation skaa.”

“I am due to take lunch with my friends,” Elend hedged, trying to escape. “Perhaps we can save your disapproval of my attire for a later discussion.”

“With your friends? No, no, you’ll not be going. I have another appointment for you.”

“Another appointment?” 

“Yes. Lord Blanches and I are discussing an agreement. You will be taking his daughter to lunch.” Straff returned his gaze to the papers in front of him with an air of settled finality. Elend stared in disbelief.

“I am  _ so _ sorry to disoblige you, Father, but I’m afraid I already have plans. I am desolated to lose the opportunity of meeting Lady Blanches, or whoever she is, but I’m sure she will recover.”

“You  _ will _ meet her.” Straff’s gaze was cold. “You will cancel your other plans, whatever they are. They are not important.”

“If you had only told me earlier - it would be so rude of me to cancel at this late point.” Elend protested.

“I am telling you now. You have made it your life’s ambition to disregard the rules of polite conduct, and so you have no room for argument here.”

“But Father…”

“Didn’t you hear me, boy?” Straff’s eyes were iron hard. “For once in your life you will set aside your own selfishness and act for the good of this House. No foolish behaviour from you is going to endanger this deal. Do you understand?”

Elend glared back at him in helpless anger, but his father’s face was implacable.

“ _ Do you understand? _ ”

“...yes, Father.”

  
  


The drive was excruciatingly awkward. Lady Blanches prattled on about every topic of gossip under the sun - from the latest fashions to the most shocking scandals. There seemed to be no subject of conversation that she could not contribute some inane commentary on. Elend fanned himself with one hand and listened with grim politeness. 

“...and did you hear about that uproar a few days ago!” she exclaimed.

“Oh?” Elend hummed distractedly, since she seemed to require an answer.

“ _ Quite  _ a kerfuffle it was - someone tried to break into the palace if I remember correctly. Probably some thieving skaa.” She leaned closer, as if to reveal a secret. Elend was pretty sure that any knowledge she had was already known by the entirety of Luthadel - if only because she had already told them. 

“I  _ heard _ \- but I don’t know if it’s true - there were steel inquisitors involved.  _ Multiple. _ ”

“Multiple?” he questioned, surprised by the audacity of this claim. There was nothing in Luthadel that would require the attention of more than one steel inquisitor. Just the threat of  _ one  _ being involved was enough to send all but the bravest (or stupidest) running for the hills.

“Well…” Even Lady Blanches seemed to realize this was beyond the realms of what was credible. “It is only what I heard. I suppose it’s likely just a rumour. How shocking if it were indeed true! Why, I would be positively terrified.”

“I daresay you would,” Elend agreed blandly.

“And on that note, did you see the dress that Lady Sofia was wearing last night? I declare, I would rather die than be seen in such a vibrant shade of puce! It quite put me off my dinner. Puce! With her complexion! I don’t know  _ what _ she was thinking.”

“What indeed.” The wooden carriage was extremely uncomfortable. Elend shifted so that the boards were not digging quite so sharply into his back. The horses trotted across a canal bridge; the water gleamed murky and full of slime below them. A group of skaa were unloading a barge at the water’s edge, carrying large wooden crates into a nearby warehouse.

“...and then she had the audacity to add extra salt! Why, I never heard of such a thing. We were all quite unable to eat it, of course. Poor Lord Badel tried, but he had to ask for a pitcher of water. What  _ does _ one do in such a situation?”

She paused here and looked at Elend, waiting for a reply. Elend had no idea how they had managed to get from the puce dress to the salt, and even less what a person was expected to do in that situation.

“Uhhh… It’s hard to say, when you haven’t been there yourself.” 

“I know just what you mean!” Lady Blanches exclaimed, clutching her hands to her breast. “Why, just last week I saw - ”

And she was off again. Elend leaned his head back against the carriage once more and wondered if throwing himself from the moving vehicle was more likely to result in death or serious injury.

  
  


Tonight’s ball was held by House Lekal, which meant that Jastes, as the house heir, had responsibilities to perform and would not be available for a good portion of the night. Elend had resigned himself to boredom, but as he stepped into the ballroom he couldn’t stop himself from quickly scanning the assembled crowd. He was doomed to disappointment - the face he was looking for was not present.

“I’m afraid she’s not here,” Jastes said over his shoulder.

Elend spun around. “Where did you come from? And what is that supposed to mean?”

Jastes grinned. “Your Renoux girl - she’s not here.”

“I wasn’t looking for her.”

“Is that so?” Jastes asked. “I suppose you don’t want to hear what happened to her, then.”

“Something happened to her?” Elend demanded.

“Nothing drastic. She was taken ill, that’s all. From what I heard, she’s been recuperating at her uncle’s residence in Fellise.”

“I see.” He stared down at the glass in his hands, watching the liquid swirl within it. “It’s been almost a month since the ball at Keep Venture. She must have been quite sick.”

“I don’t think it was anything too serious. But you know these noble girls - they faint away over the smallest cold.”

“Hmmm.”

Somehow Elend could not imagine the Lady Valette fainting away in the country because she had a cold. He thought she would rather have demanded that her uncle take her back to town. But perhaps her uncle had the same strong personality. Either way, here he was thinking about a girl he’d had one conversation with - again - when she’d probably forgotten all about him already. 

“Anyway, sorry to abandon you but I have to help my mother greet the guests.” Jastes clapped his shoulder and vanished back into the crowd. Elend watched him go, feeling rather melancholy. 

As he had predicted, the night was long and boring. House Lekal was decked out like a forest tonight - real trees surrounded the ballroom and various foliage was dotted throughout the room. The dance floor was lit in muted shades of green. The result was that there was no light anywhere for reading, and Elend was forced to hang on the edges of other people’s conversations.

When 10 o’clock came, he had a headache. So he made his excuses to Lady Lekal, said his farewells to Jastes and sent for his servant.

By chance, as Elend’s carriage drew up outside of House Venture, so did his father’s. Straff greeted his son with a curt nod of the head, striding up the stairs without pause. The footman hurried to throw open the door for him. Elend followed his father into the house.

There was a skaa boy cleaning the bannisters, and as they entered he looked up at them, and accidentally dislodged the bucket of water balanced by his foot. Dirty water flooded over the marble floor. The footmen raced to contain the flow. The boy stared in horror. Straff leapt backwards, but the water had touched one of his shoes.

Lord Venture stared at his foot for a moment. “You.” He gestured to one of the footmen. “Get rid of it.”

For a second Elend thought he meant the shoe, but the footman grabbed the boy by his collar and hauled him down the stairs. He seemed too frightened to struggle.

“Father!” Elend protested impulsively.

Straff glared at him. “What.”

“It was an accident! Surely…”

“Will you weep over the skaa, boy?” his father mocked, an ugly sneer distorting his features. “What are you, a woman? If these mindless imbeciles cannot manage a simple command, they are not worth the cost it takes to feed them.” He glared around at the servants frantically drying the stairway. “Hurry up. I don’t have all day.”

Pushing past his father, Elend ran up the stairs, heedless of both the remaining water and his father’s voice shouting after him. 

The hallway on the second floor was deserted, and so was the one on the third floor. The globes had not even been lit - a lamp lay in a corner, clearly left by a servant rushing to the commotion downstairs.

Elend stormed into his room and slammed the door shut behind him. He glared around the room, at his bed, the books spread open on his desk, before striding over to the window and staring out into the dark. 

After a moment his breathing slowed, and he leaned forward to rest his forehead against the glass. On the street below, he could see a couple of skaa loading a large cart on the pavement, their outlines lit by dim, faded streetlamps. They were stacking it with crates of various sizes, but using a distinct pattern - first loading the largest, then the midsized, and finally stacking the small ones on top. 

_There_ , Elend thought triumphantly, _intelligence!_ _Even given such a menial task, they have found a way to optimise it. And the method they used shows that they understand, if not the theory, at least the concept of physics and how the boxes will shift once the cart starts to move. Putting the smallest ones on top not only makes the cart more stable, but it means they won’t be damaged by the larger ones._

Seized by a fit of inspiration, he turned away from the window and strode over to his desk, throwing himself into the chair and dragging a blank sheet of paper towards him.  _ If I could make the laws, _ Elend thought as he scribbled frantically,  _ there would be no  _ **_skaa_ ** _ class at all. All citizens of Luthadel would be, in principal, equal.  _

_ There would be no restrictions on commerce or trade. Skaa would have their own shops, their own businesses. They would be  _ **_paid_ ** _ for their services. What a huge increase in business we would see. And all of this could be taxed. It would double the revenue of the city. And the new income would have to be spent on education, of course. All children should receive a mandatory period of schooling. They should not be allowed to work until they reach a certain age. _

Elend had run out of space on the paper. He pushed it aside and grabbed another.

_ The justice system would have to be completely rewritten. The steel ministry in particular - they are supposed to be clergy, not judges. We should have trials, fair trials heard in the public forum where evidence is presented and the outcome is decided by a rotating panel of unbiased - _

The pen sputtered. Elend shook it over the blotting paper, and paused. He read back over the words that had come flowing from his hand as if spoken by someone else. His face paled as he realized the implications, the meaning of the things he had written.

This was treason. This was no childish rebellion of hiding away forbidden books and whispering with friends. The words he had written down, deliberately put on paper, were in direct contradiction to all of the Lord Ruler’s teachings. 

If this piece of paper ever fell into the hands of the steel ministry, they would execute him. 

Elend snatched up the papers, screwed them up into a ball and threw them into the waste paper basket beside the desk. He cleaned the pen with shaking hands and laid it back down on. His eyes slid back to the scrunched up ball of paper. 

Then he leaned down, picked it up and carried it over to the fireplace. He lit a match, tossed it into the grate, and watched until every last scrap of paper had been burned away.


End file.
